A Book and A Rose
by cuckoo clover
Summary: Privateer Alice Kirkland was reading a book when she heard a whistle coming from down below the deck. She leaned over from the railings and saw it was the marauder Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. And with him was a book and a red rose. Fem!UK x Spain
_**This was written for the SpUK23april event over on Tumblr. I was surfing through Tumblr since I procrastinate a lot before I found this event. And then this story happened.**_

 _ **WARNING: Probably sucks.**_

 _ **I don't own Hetalia, because I am a fangirl like you (unless you're a fanboy), not Hidekaz Himaruya. Also, Romeo and Juliet belongs to Shakespeare.**_

* * *

The salty evening air played with Alice's golden hair as she read a book illuminated by the moonlight.

It was a very calm night; no clouds, no storms, only the gentle sound of the waves which cradled the ship as she read to her heart's content. What a perfect way to end her birthday.

But as she was reading a part where MacBeth was killed (it was a book of Shakespeare's plays), Alice heard a whistle coming from down below. She glanced at the waves where the whistle came from, and spotted a small rowboat. And in the boat is the Spanish marauder Antonio Fernandez Carriedo.

"Ugh… Here he is again," muttered Alice to herself. With closer examination of the small boat, she spotted a book and a single red rose. What does he want this time? Doesn't he know the risks of them meeting up?

He picked up the book and flipped a couple of pages forward, looking for the right page. Alice looked at Antonio, curious at the book he's holding. What is the book about?

Her question was answered when Antonio closed the book, kneeled down, picked up the rose and recited:

" _Her eye discourses, I will answer it. I am to bold; 'tis not to me she speaks. Two of the fairest stars in all the heavens, having some business, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return."_

Ah great. He's reciting lines from Romeo and Juliet to her.

" _She how she leans her cheek upon her hand. Oh, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek."_ Alice immediately placed her right hand, which was resting her right cheek, down as a response.

"Personally I would take it off." It took a while for Antonio to comprehend the meaning, and when he did, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"… Okay then…" He picked up the book again, possibly to see what to say next. Instead, he closed the book and paused, as if waiting for her to do something. Alice remembered the part where Antonio stopped, and sighed.

" _Ay me,"_ she replies lazily.

" _She speaks. Oh, speak again, bright angel!"_ He waited for a response. Oh boy. Ah well, might as well do it anyway.

" _Oh, Romeo, oh, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"_ she recited sarcastically. He motioned his head towards the right a bit, as if he wanted her to carry on. He must have saw she's reading the book. Sighing, she opened her book and continued to recite the lines:

" _Deny thy father refuse thy name, or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet._

" _Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?"_ He recited cheekily.

" _Tis but thy name that is my enemy thou art thyself, thou not a Montegue, what is Montegue? Tis nor hand, nor foot, nor any other part belonging to a man."_ She decided to stop here, but Antonio kept gesturing to continue reciting.

" _What's in a name?"_ She started. _"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."_ She closed the book and looked at Antonio. This would probably the part where he wants her to stop. By then, Antonio swung a small anchor tied to a piece of rope over the railing, and climbed it to get onto the deck along with the rose between his teeth.

"We are very much like Romeo and Juliet, aren't we?" said Antonio eagerly. "I'm like a Montague, and you're like a Capulet! Titles doesn't matter; what matters is the person themselves!"

"And in the end, they died."

"Oh..." Antonio looked to the side, and there was an awkward pause between them, with only the gentle swish and the crash of the waves filling in the silence. Disliking the awkward atmosphere, she calmly explained to him:

"Antonio, I get your point. But this case is different. We are supposed to be enemies, and it doesn't help that you have a bounty of £30,000. So get your bloody arse out of here before-" Alice raised her voice near the end, but her words were cut short when Antonio placed his palm over her mouth. She glared at him, annoyed as she grabbed his arm and took it away from her mouth.

"Look," started the marauder, "I know we can't meet up, and our countries are in bad terms."

"So then why-"

"But I don't care about that. Because I love you." Alice looked at him in surprise. He had never actually said it out loud.

"This is a very risky game we're playing, Carriedo."

"Fernandez."

"Fernandez, I mean. You know we are supposed to be enemies. You are a Spanish marauder. I am an English privateer."

"But if our situation were different," he started as he presented the rose towards Alice, "would you love me?"

Alice looked to the side and thought for a bit.

Would she love him? In truth, she was not too sure. Their grudge for each other is mainly due to their status. If they lived as normal people and their countries have no tensions, then perhaps…

"... Keep on dreaming, Romeo," concluded Alice as she left for the captain's cabin with the rose in her hands.

"Sweet dreams, then, Juliet."

* * *

 _ **... I have a feeling I made Spain OOC in this fic. And I felt I did something seriously wrong.**_

 _ **OK, trivia time!**_

 _ **Privateer:**_ _ **A pirate who is under the protection of the government. They can freely attack and rob other enemy ships as long as they carry the letters of Marque.**_

 _ **Marauder:**_ _ **A group formed by Remus Lupin, James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Nah, just joking. A marauder is a notorious pirate who freely roams the sea and plunders in random locations. Usually they're formed by outlaws.**_


End file.
